Bill Ritchie's Autobiography project, 2017-2019 resulted when he took a leave of absence from the Halfwood Press venture in 2017. He assembled his story decade-by-decade into a readable form with hundreds of pictures of the people, places and things that he's grateful to have received. At 78 years, he's using the new technologies to tell his story, ten years at a time. His finished books, in their first interation, are available on amazon.com.
For details of his biographical resume, click on the highlighted links below.
Bill left his father's farm at 18 and took up fine art printmaking. Educated in state universities in Washington and California, at 25 he was hired to teach fine art printmaking at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Seeing Seattle becoming a high-tech center, he challenged students to expand hand printing and incorporate new technologies for art, design, and education - thus extending university-level printmaking beyond academe. The 219 tapes in the Ritchie Video Archive documents this.
For his integrating printmaking, video and computer art, the university supported his research for nineteen years and his curriculum proposal was validated globally. Additionally he served as adjunct at The Evergreen State University, University of Oregon, Highline and Shoreline Community Colleges.
Finding his curricular proposal was contrary to the UW School Of Art outlook but that mastering multimedia technologies could apply to art and teaching forever, he resigned in 1985 and started his own studio for teaching, research, practice and services.
For his visual arts, teaching, research and design he won 74 awards, fellowships, grants and prizes. For professional development of teaching, research and production he undertook 59 projects worldwide.
He provided for 109 events in public speaking, consulting and workshops on printmaking techniques and history, new technologies and cultural arts entrepreneurship, many with other artists and designers to develop art installations, computer-aided business models and design.
He produced over 200 short videos for sharing on YouTube and Vimeo on subjects ranging from printmaking techniques utilizing his printing press designs to personal musings on art education, research, northwest art history and storytelling.
In 2004 he began designing, manufacturing, marketing and selling Halfwood etching presses and printmaking toys to popularize fine art printmaking and games for learning.
In 2009 he and his wife, Lynda, opened the Mini Art Gallery for a permanent work and display space housing the Ritchie family's accumulated assets and intellectual properties. See www.halfwoodpress.com for more.
